OSA

What OSA does

OSA, z.s. (Ochranný svaz autorský) is a Czech statutory collective management organization founded in 1919 that collectively manages copyrights for musical works on behalf of authors, composers, lyricists, publishers, and their heirs. The organization operates under authorization from the Czech Ministry of Culture (decision no. 4449/2001) and is legally mandated to license the public performance, broadcasting, and recording of musical works in the Czech Republic under §§19, 20, and 23 of the Czech Copyright Act. OSA represents 5.5 million authors and publishers globally through reciprocal agreements with 98 foreign collective management organizations and distributes royalties to rights holders in 98 countries, processing 100.7 billion music usage reports annually.

The organization's technology infrastructure centers on three proprietary platforms: the OSA E-shop (shop.osa.cz), an online self-service portal integrated with the ComGate payment gateway for negotiating and concluding blanket license agreements; OSA Search (search.osa.cz), a public database for verifying works managed by OSA; and a comprehensive music works and rights holder documentation system that supports license administration and royalty distribution. Supporting platforms include the Autor In/AutorIn author portal and magazine, the Archiv OSA digital archive containing annual reports from 1993-2023, and event properties such as Prague Music Week and Songwriting Camp CZ. Headcount is undisclosed but stated as 51-100 employees across headquarters (Praha 6) and a customer service center (Praha 2).

OSA's business model is built on mandatory statutory licensing: music users (businesses, venues, broadcasters, event organizers) pay transaction-based licensing fees calculated by published rate cards based on venue type, capacity, audience size, and event duration, with collected royalties distributed to represented rights holders after deducting operational costs. The organization also operates a cultural support program (Granty Partnerství) that has funded 479 music projects, and the annual Ceny OSA awards ceremony recognizing successful authors and compositions. Cross-representation agreements with DILIA (literary/dramatic rights, 2015), INTERGRAM (related rights, 2009), OAZA (sound engineers, 2017), and OOA-S (visual arts, 2025) extend the unified licensing offering beyond pure musical rights. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed.

Name

OSA

Legal name

OSA, z.s.

Website

https://osa.cz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1919

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

OSA, z.s. is a Czech statutory collective management organization founded in 1919 that licenses public music usage, collects royalties, and distributes them to 5.5 million represented musical authors and publishers globally through reciprocal agreements with 98 foreign organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Collective Rights Management

NAICS

Music Publishers (512230), Music Publishers (51223)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Performance Rights Administration (PRO Affiliation, Cue Sheet/Setlist Processing) (MPAIABAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Publishing Administration (Catalog Admin, Global Subpublishing) (MPAIABAB), Copyright Registration & Catalog Management (Metadata, ISWC/ISRC Linking) (MPAIABAC), Public Performance/Neighboring Rights for AV Uses (Cue Sheet & Reporting Services) (MPAIALAK)

Keywords

• Music copyright licensing
• Collective rights management
• Royalty collection services
• Music publishing administration
• Blanket license agreements

Headquarters

HQ city

Prague

HQ country

Czechia

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Author Royalties and Licensing Fees: OSA collects statutory licensing fees from businesses, venues, broadcasters, and event organizers who publicly perform, broadcast, or record musical works. These fees are collected based on published rate cards (sazebníky) and distributed to represented authors and publishers after deducting administrative costs. The licensing covers public performance (§19), sound/audiovisual recording (§20), and radio/television broadcasting (§23) under Czech copyright law.
2. Grant and Partnership Program: OSA operates a grant program (Partnerství) that supports music creation projects, with 479 projects supported. This is funded from OSA's licensing revenue as part of its cultural support mission.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

OSA is a Czech statutory collective copyright management organization that grants blanket licenses to music users (businesses, broadcasters, public venues, event organizers) for the public performance, sound/audiovisual recording, and radio/television broadcasting of musical works under §19, §20, and §23 of the Czech Copyright Act. It collects licensing fees and redistributes royalties to its represented authors, composers, lyricists, publishers, and heirs through reciprocal agreements with 98 foreign collective management organizations. Its primary transaction channel is the proprietary OSA E-shop (shop.osa.cz), supported by the OSA Search repertoire database and the OSA customer service center in Prague.

Product overview

OSA (Ochranný svaz autorský) is a Czech collective copyright management organization operating as an association (OSA, z.s.). Its primary product is the Licenční E-shop OSA — an online licensing platform enabling music users (businesses, broadcasters, event organizers) to purchase blanket licenses covering public performance, broadcasting, and recording of music from OSA's repertoire and that of four represented collective managers (DILIA, INTERGRAM, OAZA, OOA-S). Supporting this core transaction platform are OSA Search (a public database for checking the OSA repertoire), the Autor IN/AutorIn author portal and digital magazine, the Granty Partnerství grant program, and the annual Prague Music Week and Songwriting Camp CZ events. The Archiv OSA provides institutional historical records including annual reports going back to 1993. The product portfolio centers on collective rights management services for music authors and music users, combining licensing technology (e-shop + search database), author support (grants, portal), and industry promotion (awards, events).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Autor In: Online platform for authors
• Ceny OSA
• Granty Partnerství
• OSA Search
• 100letosa.cz

Products and services

• OSA E-shop (Licenční E-shop OSA) Online self-service platform enabling music users (businesses, broadcasters, event organizers, venues) to negotiate, sign, and pay for blanket license agreements covering public performance, sound/audiovisual recording, and radio/television broadcasting of musical works managed by OSA and its partner collective management organizations (DILIA, INTERGRAM, OAZA, OOA-S). Supports registration, contract management, music playlist declarations, and ComGate payment processing.
• OSA Search (Databáze hudebních děl) Publicly searchable online database of OSA's musical works repertoire. Enables music users and the public to verify whether specific works are managed by OSA and to identify the relevant rights holders for licensing and royalty distribution purposes.
• Public Performance License (§19 AZ) Blanket license for the live public performance of musical works at venues, events, restaurants, hotels, retail establishments, and other commercial or public spaces. Fees are set by published rate cards (sazebníky) and vary by venue type, capacity, event duration, and expected audience. Required under §19 of the Czech Copyright Act.
• Sound/Audiovisual Recording License (§20 AZ) License for the reproduction and transmission of music from commercially released sound recordings or other sound/audiovisual recordings. Covers mechanical reproduction rights under §20 of the Czech Copyright Act. Fees determined by published rate cards.
• Broadcasting License (§23 AZ) License for radio and television broadcasters to use musical works in their programming. Fees are based on audience reach and broadcast duration. Covers broadcasting rights under §23 of the Czech Copyright Act. OSA is authorized by partner CMOs (DILIA, INTERGRAM) to grant these licenses for both musical and literary works.
• Granty Partnerství (Partnership Grants) Grant program providing financial support from licensing revenue to music creators, authors, publishers, and cultural projects. 479 projects supported to date. Funded from OSA's licensing revenue as part of its cultural support mission.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5.5 million authors and publishers represented globally
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• OOA-S (Ochranná organizace autorská - Sdružení autorů děl výtvarného umění, architektury a obrazové složky audiovizuálních děl)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2025OOA-S authorized OSA to grant licenses for visual arts works, including paintings, sculptures, graphics, architectural works, cinematography, scenography, costume design, editing, and other visual works used in audiovisual productions. This covers public performance from recordings (§20 AZ) and television broadcasting (§23 AZ).
• OAZA (Ochranná asociace zvukařů - autorů)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 December 2017OAZA authorized INTERGRAM to manage sound engineer (sound master) rights. Through the INTERGRAM partnership, OSA can include OAZA-protected sound engineer works in its licensing offerings.
• DILIA (Divadelní, literární a audiovizuální agentura)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 January 2015OSA is authorized by DILIA to grant licenses for literary, dramatic, musical-dramatic, choreographic, pantomime, audiovisual, and dubbing direction works for television and radio broadcasting under §23 of the Czech Copyright Act. This partnership allows OSA to offer comprehensive broadcasting licenses covering both musical and literary works.
• INTERGRAM (Nezávislá společnost výkonných umělců a výrobců zvukových a zvukově obrazových záznamů)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 April 2009INTERGRAM is authorized by the Czech Ministry of Culture to manage rights of performing artists and producers of sound and audiovisual recordings. OSA is authorized by INTERGRAM to grant licenses for their repertoire during public performances and broadcasts, enabling a unified licensing experience for music users covering both author and related rights.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• GEMA: GEMA is Germany's PRO, the largest in the European Union, performing the same collective management function for musical authors' rights as OSA does in the Czech Republic. Both organizations operate under reciprocal agreements and statutory authorizations for public performance, broadcasting, and mechanical licensing.
• SACEM: SACEM is France's PRO, managing rights for musical works including collection and distribution of royalties from public performance and broadcasting. It is a direct peer of OSA within the European collective rights management network and one of OSA's 98 reciprocal agreement partners.
• DILIA: DILIA is the Czech collective management organization for literary, dramatic, and audiovisual works. It is a direct peer in Czech rights management and a strategic partner of OSA, with OSA authorized to grant broadcasting licenses on DILIA's behalf under Czech Copyright Act §23.
• SABAM: SABAM is Belgium's PRO for authors, composers, and publishers, performing the same collective rights administration as OSA. It is one of OSA's reciprocal agreement partners in the European CMO network.
• SIAE: SIAE is Italy's PRO, managing authors' rights for musical and literary works. Like OSA, it operates under statutory authorization with reciprocal agreements across Europe and provides licensing services for public performance and broadcasting.
• PRS for Music: PRS for Music is the UK's PRO, collecting and distributing royalties on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers. It is functionally identical to OSA and operates a reciprocal agreement with OSA for cross-border royalty flows.
• INTERGRAM: INTERGRAM is the Czech CMO for neighboring rights of performing artists and phonogram producers. It is a direct peer in the Czech rights management market and a strategic partner of OSA, authorized by OSA to license its repertoire alongside OSA's author rights.

Broad incumbents

• BMI: BMI is one of the two dominant US PROs, providing identical collective management services to OSA but with a US repertoire focus. It illustrates the scale a mature PRO can achieve and is a reciprocal agreement partner.
• ASCAP: ASCAP is the largest US PRO, performing the same collective licensing function for public performance rights as OSA but at a much larger scale (~1M members, billions in annual licensing revenue). It serves as a benchmark for PRO operating models globally and has reciprocal agreements with OSA.

Regional players

• JASRAC: JASRAC is Japan's PRO, providing the same public performance and broadcasting licensing services as OSA but in the Japanese market. It is a regional peer operating under Japanese copyright law with its own reciprocal agreements with OSA.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/OSA_zs
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ochrannysvazautorsky
• Facebookfacebook.com/osazs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/osazs
• Instagraminstagram.com/ochranny_svaz_autorsky

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about OSA